By Gary Seastrand
What does it mean to be a good citizen in a democracy and how is civic virtue developed? This important question finds significant connection to one of the key purposes of public education. In the book Democracy in Education, Dr. John Goodlad articulated that citizenship is not innate but must be developed. He identified public education as the means by which children and youth are enculturated into a sociopolitical democracy—an associated way of living.
Perhaps you have read Robert Fulghum’s brief treatise All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten. Fulghum wrote of an environment inherent to a classroom setting in which one learns to interact, value, and respect others, including authority requisite to sustaining a pluralistic society. Public education offers a laboratory in which the young come to learn the core values of living with others who are different. Here they learn to adopt cultural norms that balance self-interest with the common good.
Tension always exists between self-interest and the common good. A culture that is grounded only in supporting self-interest is incapable of sustaining a democratic way of life. As the young develop personal capacity and virtue to use their education in productive ways, they become citizens capable of making important decisions that undergird civic virtue. They evolve into beings who are willing to help others flourish and who are able to wisely constrain their self-interests. Without public education, you eliminate the most powerful public source capable of building and sustaining a democratic way of life.
Dr. Gary Seastrand was the director of the Center for the Improvement of Teacher Education and Schooling (CITES) and executive director of the BYU–Public School Partnership from 2014 to 2022. Prior to his term at BYU, Seastrand was a public school teacher and administrator, retiring as the assistant superintendent of schools in the Alpine School District to serve and lead at BYU. He currently serves as president of the BYU Education Society, spreading his passion for advancing literacy with McKay School alumni everywhere. He loves children, especially those who are grand.